Filling of the biodigester at Le Cortine has begun.

Started in the plant 𝗟𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 (SI) the filling of the first biodigester, within two months expected to start the production of compost and biomethane. The “Le Cortine” plant in Asciano, in the province of Siena, owned by Sienambiente SpA is a key waste management hub in southern Tuscany.

Its revamping project, worth about 40 million euros, was contracted in 2022 to the association of companies made up of Entsorga Spa, Secit Impianti Srl and Tecnostrade Srl, and involved all production lines, from the treatment of organic waste to the valorization of separated waste collection, from paper recovery to the treatment of undifferentiated municipal waste.

Entsorga provided four proprietary technologies essential to the new biomethane production line: the Spider™ robotic cranes, the Spider™ pre-treatment systems, the Cow™ semi-dry plug flow anaerobic digesters, and the Eagle Cloud™ plant control and management systems.

The organic fraction treatment line alone, which recovers about 40,000 tons of organic and green waste each year, will produce about 4,000 tons of compost. Added to this, thanks to the new anaerobic digestion section, will be the production of biogas from which 2,500,000 Nm3/year of biomethane will be obtained to be fed into the grid, enough to cover the annual needs of 1,800 households. All while avoiding the emission of 9,000 tons of CO2 per year to the environment.

The entire revamping will make the plant even more virtuous, increasing recycling, further reducing waste and therefore landfill use, as well as saving the environment more than 100,000 tons of CO2eq per year, equivalent to the amount of CO2eq absorbed by a forest of more than 4,000 trees.

“The Le Cortine plant will be the first in Tuscany to produce biomethane with our semi-dry anaerobic digestion technology,” commented Pietro Cella Mazzariol, president of EntsorgaFin S.p.A. “As Entsorga, we are particularly proud to have contributed to this revamp. If we consider the level of circularity achieved thanks to the whole operation, with the Sienambiente plant Italy adds another important piece on the EU’s indicated path toward the environmental goals set for 2030.”